


Saving the Savior

by Leggo My Lego Harry Potter (Runic_Purple_Panda)



Series: Fanfiction.net: Revived and Revised [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, LEGO Harry Potter (Video Games)
Genre: Manipulative but Stupid Dumbledore, Pairings are only in epilogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-15
Updated: 2015-09-05
Packaged: 2018-04-14 21:05:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4580109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Runic_Purple_Panda/pseuds/Leggo%20My%20Lego%20Harry%20Potter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Potter Trust Vault has many protections. Too bad Lucius Malfoy didn't know.</p><p>*~*The prologue and first two chapters of this story were previously posted on Fanfiction.net, but the story was left there uncompleted.  Even if you read the chapters posted there, please reread the whole story.  It has been revised, edited, and completed since then.*~*</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Trust Vault Mayhem

**Author's Note:**

> The actual idea that sparked this story, was my character was a goblin, until Harry got to go into the vault, but then I switched, and my character ended up being Lucius Malfoy.

Harry looked at all the gold in his trust vault in wonder. “This is all mine?” he asked, grinning.

“Yep,” Hagrid said, grinning back. “Now, go an’ get some galleons – those gold ones, so we can get yer shopping done.” Harry stepped towards the vault. He stepped forward into it slowly. A few steps in, he gave out a gry and hit his knees. “Wha?” Hagrid moved to help Harry but Griphook stopped him.

“That would not have happened if he were truly Harry Potter.”

“Wha’dya mean if he were truly Harry Potter?” Hagrid demanded. And then, as if in answer, Harry began changing, his body lengthening, along with his hair, which also turned from a pitch black to a silvery platinum blonde. A few moments later, Lucius Malfoy stood in the place of Harry Potter. Malfoy glanced at both of them.

“Bugger.”

“Malfoy? Wha’ are you doing ‘ere?” Where’s Harry?”

“You’ll never find the little brat,” Malfoy hissed out. Several goblins, wearing armor and carrying weapons, appeared near the vault.

“Mr. Malfoy,” Griphook said, with a terrifying, teethy grin, “I’m afraid we’re going to have to take you into custody.”

“Who the hell puts high security vault protections on a bloody trust vault?” Malfoy exclaimed as they led him away.

“Apparently, the Potters,” one of the goblin guards answered dryly. Malfoy glared at the goblin in question.

“I don’ understand? Where’s Harry at?” Hagrid asked.

“I am unsure, Mr. Hagrid. Rest assured however, Mr. Potter is one of our more wealthy clients; we will most certainly do anything we can, and possibly quite a bit of what we’re not supposed to do, to get him back. We’ll have to if we want to keep our reputation as the best. Now, let us go to vault 713.”

* * *

"What do you mean, missing?” Dumbledore demanded.

“I picked up Harry like you said, only he was Lucius bloody Malfoy in disguise,” Hagrid answered.

“Oh dear. This isn’t good. Where is Malfoy now?”

“The goblins have him in custody. The ministry don’ know yet. The goblins wanted to tell the Prophet that he was caught trying to break into Harry’s vault, so the ministry won’ fight hard to get him back and then jus’ let him off.”

Just then, two owls flew into the room, both carrying the Daily Prophet. One flew to Hagrid, and the other to Dumbledore. Splayed across the front page of the newspaper was:

 

**SPECIAL EDITION**

**Malfoy Attempts to Steal from Boy-Who-Lived!**

 

“Oh, he’s not goin’ to be happy about tha’,” Hagrid said, with a vicious grin. “Ain’ no one gonna wanna be friendly with him now.”

“No, I suppose not,” Dumbledore said. “Not if they want to remain in the good of the public eye.” Directly under the headline, the article started:

 

_Earlier today, says Gringotts spokesgoblin, Lucius Malfoy was apprehended by guard-goblins while trying to break into one of Gringotts vaults. But not just any vault, no, he was trying to break into Harry Potter’s trust vault!_

_Ten years ago, if you may recall, Harry Potter became the Boy-Who-Lived and saved us all from the Dark Lord, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He was sent to relatives to live his life in peace. Apparently, however, it was not so peaceful._

_Lucius Malfoy attempted to break into the vault by way of Polyjuice potion. For those of you that don’t know, the Polyjuice potion allows you to take the form of another person for an hour per swallow. However, you need a piece of the person you’re turning into._

_So, how did Mr. Malfoy get his hands on Harry Potter? This reporter isn’t quite sure. Mr. Malfoy, when asked by several people, including myself, refused to comment on it. According to a hidden source, however, he claimed, “You’ll never find the little brat!” upon his arrest._

_The Ministry has, of yet, done nothing. Hopefully, they will get moving soon, and find our precious savior._

_-Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet_

 

“I don’t think he’ll be claiming imperious to get out of this one,” Dumbledore said, getting up. “I’ll be at the Ministry. If that article didn’t light a fire under their arses, I will.”


	2. 01: Narcissa's Betrayal

Amelia Bones rushed up the marble steps to Gringotts. An urgent letter had come for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement about Malfoy’s attempt to steal the Potter boy’s money. It didn’t escape her notice that the letter came _after_ the Prophet broke the story. With any amount of good luck, and the backing of the outraged public, Lucius Malfoy wouldn’t be getting off so easily with an ‘I was imperius-ed!’ defense.

“Ah, Madame Director Bones,” the goblin said, ushering her into the office. “I am Ripjaw, the goblin in charge of finding the account holder named Harry Potter. It is a pleasure to meet you, though I believe with both wish the circumstances were different.”

“Yes. Do you have any idea where he may be?”

“No. We can’t search every Malfoy property without a warrant, and we can’t get one from your Ministry – restrictive laws against goblins and such.” Amelia frowned. “We have, however, taken a Merlin Stone and started scouting the area around the properties. If it begins to glow, we will know where he is immediately.”

Merlin Stones were stones used by the goblins to determine how powerful a child wizard or witch was. Many purebloods had their children tested, and paid quite a lot of money for a list of names of those with similar power levels. It was used to find proper future spouses for a marriage contract before the child turned eleven. Any contracts created after the child was eleven could be voided by the child themselves.

“But Merlin stones only glow when the person using it is touching it.”

“Young Mr. Potter was a powerful child. The stone began to glow when he was within the archway entrance to Diagon Alley. It was a reason his godfather was able to name him his heir to the Black Family Fortune.”

Amelia’s stunned silence was understandable. Many goblins had been surprised, and quite a few began to panic, when every one of their Merlin Stones began to glow. Not even Merlin himself had made what would later be called Merlin Stones glow without touching them, or so brightly.

“Wait a moment – godfather? Sirius Black is his godfather?”

“Yes.”

“A properly _bonded_ godfather?”

“Yes.”

“Then how is it he betrayed the Potters to their deaths? The magic involved would never allow it!” The bond created by magic between a godparent and a godchild also connected the godparent and biological parents.

“That’s what we keep trying to tell you people when you demand we freeze his accounts.”

“Another injustice done. I will see what I can do about him later, but for now, we have a missing child to find.”

* * *

Amelia wasn’t surprised to see Narcissa Malfoy waiting for her in her office when she got back. Though her meeting with the goblin Ripjaw had gone well, or as well as a meeting between a human and a goblin could have gone, the use of the Merlin Stone was slow going.

“Lady Malfoy, I’m afraid the Malfoy money won’t be able to buy your husband out of this one.”

“And I’m afraid it will,” Narcissa said. The fact that she actually looked afraid, did surprise Amelia. Narcissa had a reputation of being an ice queen. “My husband has many connections, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he used them and had all of this painted as a misunderstanding with the goblins at fault.”

“That could start another goblin war,” Amelia protested.

“Do you honestly think he’d care?” Narcissa said. “It’s not like we keep all the Malfoy money with the goblins. And we have plenty of other properties to go to. Perhaps one closer to Durmstrang. I’ve been wanting to send Draco there.”

“What is it that you’re here for, exactly, Lady Malfoy?”

“I don’t know where my husband is keeping the boy, but with him currently in custody, and Draco not yet seventeen, I am currently in control of the Malfoy family. I would like to give the DMLE permission to search all Malfoy properties, in return for nothing found there being used against me, or my son, in any way.”

“We clear out all the dark objects, and you get off scot free?”

“Any of the dark objects you find no doubt belong to my husband anyway. And I’m quite sure a few of them are illegal – more charges you can add to his list of crimes. The more crimes, the less chance he has of getting off.”

“Why?”

“Pardon?”

“Why do you want Lucius Malfoy in prison?” Amelia asked.

Narcissa stood slowly, and transfigured her beautiful dress robes into a plain t-shirt and pair of shorts. Bruises covered her body, varying from a sickly looking yellow, to a dark black color.

“He did that?”

“No. Lucius knows he can’t touch me with harmful intent – my father managed to slip that into our marriage contract. That doesn’t stop him from passing me around to his friends.”

“Surely your former Family Head can do something about this?” Amelia asked, horrified. Unless, of course, he was in on it.

“Perhaps,” Narcissa said, releasing the transfiguration and sitting back down, “if he were not already in Azkaban as a convicted Death Eater.” Black! Narcissa had formerly been a Black – meaning the Family Head was Sirius Black. Amelia made a mental note to send her secretary to get the files on his arrest and trial.

“I see. Will you be pressing charges against those that did…that to you?”

“No,” Narcissa answered. “I’ll have enough trouble as it is with me screwing my husband over. The men who did this won’t dare to touch me now that Lucius isn’t around to control me.”

“Alright,” Amelia said, as she took a piece of _McCarthy’s Contract Creation Parchment ™ – Create legal contracts with ease!_ and began writing. After she finished, she handed the contract to Narcissa for perusal.

* * *

_**Contract for this date the Thirty-First of July in the year Nineteen Ninety-One between Lady Narcissa Malfoy of the Malfoy Family, and Madame Director (Lady) Amelia Bones of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.** _

_I, the aforementioned contract holders and the undersigned, agree to willingly uphold the directives of this contract to the best of my powers._

_I, Lady Narcissa Malfoy, in control of the Malfoy Family for the foreseeable future until my husband, Lord Lucius Malfoy is released from detainment by legal authorities, or my son Draco Malfoy, ascends to Lordship over the Malfoy Family, give the Department of Magical Law Enforcement permission to search any property owned by the Malfoy Family and to remove any illegally-held objects or persons in those properties. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement has the next three months to search the properties._

_I, Madame Director Amelia Bones, and all members of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement beneath me, will not arrest, charge, or harass Lady Narcissa or Draco Malfoy for anything found in the next three months at the properties Lady Malfoy has given us permission to search._

_This contract, upon being declared valid, will be in effect until all members involved in the contract are deceased._

* * *

There were two places for signatures, Amelia’s and Narcissa’s, at the bottom. Narcissa nodded after she finished reading it, and they both signed it. They held their breaths for a few moments, both giving sighs of relief when the parchment began glowing white, indicating it had been validated by magic.

“This is a list of all the properties the Malfoy Family owns,” Narcissa said, handing over a thick roll of parchment.”

“We will contact you as soon as we are done with one of them, though we will not be telling you which ones we will search next. I’m sure you understand.”

“Yes, of course. We wouldn’t want you to be accused of doing your job improperly. I think Draco and I will see if we can stay with my sister Andy until Malfoy Manor is done. Oh, I would suggest not using these Aurors,” Narcissa said, handing over another roll of parchment. “They are in Lucius’ pocket, and likely to do something to get all the evidence thrown out on a technicality.”

“Thank you for the warning.” Narcissa nodded, and stood to leave when Amelia stopped her. “Lady Malfoy, were you aware that Sirius Black was, and still is, Harry Potter’s godfather?”

“No, though it’s not surprising I suppose,” Narcissa said. “He and Potter’s father were friends, as I recall. Obviously, they never used the proper bond, considering the circumstances that saw him sent to Azkaban.”

“According to the goblins, Sirius Black is Harry Potter’s properly bonded godfather.” Narcissa sat back down in shock.

“Then how is it he betrayed the Potters?”

“I don’t know. I’ll be getting his files later on today, but I can’t bring anything in front of the Wizengamot except the accused for trials, something specifically requested of me by the Chief Warlock, or something that has to do with the Bones Family. This falls under none of those.”

“You want _me_ to bring before them,” Narcissa stated.

“That’s the idea. You are formerly a Black, after all. That makes him your Family Lord, especially now that Lucius is out of the picture.”

“I see. I will be sure to bring it forward at the next Wizengamot meeting. That’s…?”

“This Friday. I’ll have Black’s file sent to you before then.”

“Thank you.”

“And thank you, Lady Malfoy. You have no idea how much help you’ve been.” Narcissa left the office. Amelia sighed and leaned back in her chair, with her eyes closed for a few minutes. Then she got up, and stuck her head out the door.

“Rebecca?” she called for her secretary’s attention. “Get me the files on Sirius Black.”

“Yes ma’am,” Rebecca got up to get them.

“And while you’re at it, I want Harry Potter’s files as well.”

“Yes ma’am.”

* * *

Harry Potter, the real Harry Potter, shivered in the dark. He was in a dungeon cell of some sort. A strange rat-like creature called Dobby appeared with another try of food – if the watery oatmeal could be called food.

Still he got more food here than at the Dursley’s house. And less chores. He wouldn’t really mind it so much if it were only a little warmer, or perhaps he had a better, not-so-holey blanket, and if the man with long blond hair would stop bulling on his.

A strong stench reminded his nose that it was still there, and Harry added occasional trips to the bathroom to the list of things that would make this a better place to live.

“Can Dobby be doing anything else for the Great Harry Potter sir?”

“You could let me out to use the bathroom.”

“Oh,” Dobby whined, pulling on his ears. “Dobby can’ts do that Great Harry Potter sir. Master Malfoy says you has to stays in the cage. Dobby is sorry.”

“That’s alright Dobby. This place is still better than the Dursley house I guess.”

“The Great Harry Potter sir doesn’ts like his home.”

“That place is _not_ my home. It never has been.”

* * *

Unnoticed by everyone living on Privet Drive, Number four flashed red once – twice – and finally a third time. The Blood Wards keeping any wizards not keyed into them away from the house fell quietly.

A little gizmo in the office of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore gave its final few spins of life, before it too died quietly. Dumbledore wouldn’t notice it until much, much later. It would be his downfall.

* * *

Rebecca was from a minor pureblood family called the McCartys – not to be confused with their more popular cousins, the McCarthys, whose brand of Create-It-Legal-Parchments were used almost everywhere in the Ministry of Magic. Still, her Uncle, technically Great-Granduncle, Jared McCarthy, had gotten her the job as secretary to the Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Madame Director Bones had been wary at first, of a pureblood getting the job due to family connections, but quickly warmed up to her when she had proved herself by getting one of the Minister’s undersecretaries, one Delores Umbridge, to sit down and wait for her appointment, instead of just barging in fifteen minutes early as she usually did.

Rumors of how she did it had mutated rapidly, and she wasn’t quite sure which version of the story got to the file clerks, but it had to have been one of the worse ones, as every one of them was now frightened to death by her – save that one strange man in a kilt. Still, it made her job of getting files a lot easier.

“Sirius Black’s file,” one clerk said in a squeaky voice, before disappearing back into the archives. Rebecca frowned. For such a dangerous and well known criminal, you’d think the file would be a lot thicker. She shrugged it off. It wasn’t her business. She was just a secretary. Let Amelia deal with it.

“I can’t seem to find Harry Potter’s file,” another clerk – the strange man in the kilt – said.

“It’s got to be down here somewhere,” Rebecca said. This was the Ministry Archives – everything was down here somewhere.

“Yes, but I can’t seem to-” Rebecca saw three quick red flashes.

“Are you alright?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes, I’m fine. Ah! Here it is. Harry Potter’s file. I don’t know why I couldn’t see it before.” Rebecca frowned again, wondering if the red flashes had anything to do with it. She’d tell Amelia about it when she handed in the files. Her heart stopped when she saw Potter’s file. It was even thinner than Black’s.”

“Shouldn’t there be more here?”

“I, I suppose so. Yes, in fact, I’m sure it should be thicker, but that’s the only file we have on Harry Potter.”

“You’re sure? What about those red flashes from earlier?” He looked at her puzzled.

“What red flashes?”

“You didn’t see them? He shook his head.

“No. Are you sure you weren’t just seeing things?”

“Doubtful. My family is resistant to mind tricks. Thank you anyway.”

“Of course. Have a nice day.”

“You too.” Something strange was going on, and Rebecca was quite sure she didn’t like it. At all.

* * *

Sirius Black lay in a fitful sleep, in even worse conditions than Harry Potter. Sirius had no blanket at all, and his own gruel might as well have been a rock. The cooks of Azkaban had been taking cooking lessons from Hagrid, Sirius had thought one day.

He got a little amusement from the thought until the dementors had sucked that from him too. The only thing they hadn’t touched was the mantra currently keeping him sane.

I’m innocent. I’m innocent. Innocent. I’m innocent. I didn’t do it. I’m innocent. It wasn’t me.

Innocent.


	3. 02: Getting Hotter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you’ve read this story on fanfiction.net, you’ll notice this chapter ended earlier there. That was the last chapter posted to ff.net, and it was on June 10, 2012. It ended on a cliffhanger. I figured the ones that read it there have lived with that cliffhanger long enough, so this chapter is almost twice as long as the one posted there (2842 words as opposed to 1500-ish). It’s also titled _Getting Warmer_ on ff.net.

Amelia frowned at the thinness of the two files. Sirius Black’s file was alarmingly thin; with such a dangerous criminal, there should be quarterly reports on what he’s been saying and doing and how the dementors affect him. An auror should have been assigned to deal with that after the trial, but as Amelia was quickly coming to realize while reading the file, there hadn’t _been_ a trial.

It wasn’t uncommon at the time for Death Eaters to not be put on trial. Before every trial, there was a meeting of three Wizengamot members and the accused and the auror who investigated. The three members would then decide if there was enough evidence to go to court, or as was more likely, would accept a bribe for the Death Eater’s release.

Corruption ran wild in the Wizengamot in those days – not that it had changed much. Ten times, laws that would allow the DMLE to investigate those suspected of corruption came before the Wizengamot, and ten times they were defeated, almost unanimously. Most of the members assumed they were the ones that the law was about, and so voted against it. Those who weren’t corrupt themselves, were either in Dumbledore’s block, and voted for it, or were scared the Death Eaters would come after them for making easy getaways impossible, and voted against it.

Sirius Black had been put before Barty Crouch, then undersecretary Cornelius Fudge, and Byron Longbottom, Augusta’s husband who had been killed the night his son and daughter-in-aw were tortured. According to the report, the meeting was held for five minutes with only those for men, and Black had been silenced throughout. Afterwards, Black was taken to Azkaban, and that was it. There was nothing else in the file – no trial transcript, no prisoner reports – even the man’s transfer to Azkaban was written on a small, barely legible piece of parchment.

Even worse than the thinness of Black’s file, was the thinness of Potter’s. It should have had the address updated – it still read Potter Cottage, Godric’s Hollow – even if it only said classified. The magical guardian and their address, even though Potter lived with muggle relatives, should be listed as well, but it was still Sirius Black. There were no reports from Wizarding Child Services, even though there should have been biannual visits at the very least, as required by law when a magical child was placed with muggles.

Harry Potter being who he was, there would have no doubt been many more, solely for the bragging rights of knowing the boy.

Amelia sighed. This was beginning to look worse and worse. She duplicated Black’s file, and sent it to Narcissa, and then began looking over the financial reports of the Malfoy and Potter families, supplied by Ripjaw. The Malfoy’s were nearly broke, at least compared to the vastness of the Malfoy Vaults when Lucius inherited them. There were only three million galleons left in Gringotts with the Malfoy name on them.

The Potter boy, on the other hand, had seven billion waiting for him to turn seventeen. His trust vault alone had two million, being filled back up to capacity at the end of every month. Then there was the other six billion from families that had left their fortune to the Boy-Who-Lived and then passed on, and another two billion that he’d get from another three families if they died without changing their wills. And he was all set to inherit the Black’s four hundred million.

It must have looked irresistible to Lucius. And then he found out that the Potters had high security protections on the vault. Amelia smiled at the thought of Lucius Malfoy in a goblin prison, forced to shovel dragon dung for the rest of his life. Her secretary’s head poked through the door.

“Undersecretary Umbridge is here to see you, and she demands to be seen now, rather than make an appointment. Would you like me to scare her away?”

“No, send her in. I’d rather deal with her now, instead of giving her time to simmer.” The last of Amelia’s smile faded away as she spoke. She idly wondered if Delores was related to dementors, with the way she sucked all the happiness out of the area surrounding her.

* * *

Kingsley Shacklebolt knocked on the fifth door in thirty-six hours. He was leading the primary team to find the Potter boy. His team would make a cursory search of each property, and then call in another team to deal with whatever they found, and move on.

“Can Dobby be helping yous, sirs?” the elf that answered the door said. Then he saw Hestia Jones, and added, “and miss?”

“Are your masters here elf?” Kingsley asked.

“No sirs and miss,” Dobby answered. “Mistress and Little Master are staying with Mistress’ sister. Master is not home either, but Dobby does not know where he is.”

“Are you the highest ranking elf on the property?” Kingsley asked. Elves could accept legal papers for their family, but only if they were the highest ranking elf on the property, and the family they belonged to weren’t in.

“Dobby is the only elf on the property, sirs and miss,” Dobby said.

“This is a warrant to search the property,” Kingsley said, handing the elf a piece of parchment. So far, each elf served had taken an unusual amount of glee in telling the aurors of places they’d like to avoid or wouldn’t like to see. Judging by the widening of Dobby’s eyes and smile, he was about to do the same. Each of the aurors with elves at home made a mental note to treat their house elves even better than they already did.

“The property, sirs and miss, or just the house?” he asked.

“The property,” Kingsley said. “The whole property.” Dobby’s eyes and grin grew even wider, and then he motioned for them all to enter.

“Sirs and miss must come in at once. Sirs and miss wouldn’t like to see what’s in the room behind the third bookshelf from the left along the back wall of the library, or…” Dobby began listing off places as the other elves had done, finishing with, “…and sirs and miss will find nothing of interest underneath the old shack just beyond the tree line there.” Dobby pointed out a window, and Kingsley made note of the spot he pointed at – just at the beginning of a thick forest behind the manor house.

“I see. Well, thank you. We’ll take great care to avoid those places,” Kingsley said, giving the elf a wink. Dobby gave him another grin and then disappeared with a snap of his fingers. “Alright, you heard him, start with the ground floor and go up, paying extra attention to the rooms he mentioned. Jones, you’re with me. We’re going to go check out that shack he mentioned.”

Hestia nodded, and the rest of the aurors began to move. Kingsley hoped they had more luck with this property than the others. There’s no telling what condition the boy would be in when they found him.

* * *

“Really, Delores, I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” The woman had come right in, and immediately demanded to know what the meeting with Narcissa was about.

“A private meeting with Lucius Malfoy’s wife wouldn’t look good for you right now, Amelia,” the toad-like woman said. “Especially if the press got wind of it.”

“Hmm, you know, I have Lucius Malfoy’s bank statements here. Here’s a transfer of thirty thousand galleons on the first of August, and another here of twenty-five thousand on the third of July.” Umbridge got paler as Amelia spoke. “You know what, Delores? I think these were transferred to _your_ account. Imagine if the press got wind of _that_. All you need to know is that she’s helping us find what her husband did with Harry Potter. Now, _please_ , get out of my office!”

Umbridge practically flew out of her office, moving far quicker than she ever had before. Several people saw her, and by the end of the day Amelia’s already fearsome reputation had grown.

* * *

“Oh wow, look at this,” Hestia said. They had made it to the shack, and found the trapdoor that would lead them below, only to find massive wards surrounding it.

“Either Potter’s here, or there’s something else that can get Malfoy put away for a long time,” Kingsley said. “How long to break the wards?” Hestia was one of the three ward specialists on his ten-man team.

“An hour or two tops. The wards are relatively simple, but they’re all tangled together. I have to untangle them first, then dismantle them.” Kingsley nodded.

“As quick as you can without rushing Jones.” Even if Potter wasn’t here, his team had one more property to look at, before another primary team took over so his could get some rest. Kingsley began searching the immediate area for anything else they could pin on Malfoy. Half an hour later, he got the scare of his life when Hestia began cursing.

“Shit, shit! No, no, no, no, don’t do that. Shack! If Potter’s in there, we need to get him out, now!” Kingsley tapped his auror badge with his wand three times, sending out an emergency signal, before heading back into the shack to help Hestia.

* * *

Every auror on active duty received the signal, and began apparating as closely to Malfoy Manor as they could. Those off-duty received an emergency call in, to take any calls for aurors that happened while they emergency was happening.

Amelia, upon receiving the signal, immediately opened a floo connection to Gringotts. “Ripjaw! We just got an emergency signal. They might have found him.”

“A group of goblins will be there shortly,” Ripjaw said. The goblins arrived in under a minute, all armed to the teeth.

“This portkey should deposit us as closely as possible to the emergency signal.” Amelia said, holding out a rope. Each of the goblins grabbed on, and they appeared outside the property wards of Malfoy Manor.

Amelia waved her wand, and then took off running, “It’s coming from this way!” She and the goblins raced through into the manor and out the back, heading for the tree line. They came upon a crowd of aurors.

The shack had been blown apart by one of them, and as many aurors as could possibly be around the trapdoor were doing everything they could to aid Kingsley and Hestia in removing the wards.

“Make way!” one of the goblins roared. The aurors parted like Moses had raised his staff to the Red Sea, and the goblins ran through to the trapdoor. Goblins were well known as curse- and ward-breakers. All but the aurors that were warding specialists backed off, allowing the goblins to take their places. Kingsley, exhausted and breathing heavily, made his way to Amelia.

“What happened?” she demanded.

“The elves have all been very helpful, pointing out places for us to find things. The elf on this property pointed out the shack. Jones and I came to check out the shack while the rest of the team took on the Manor. She said it the wards were simple, but tangled up, and would take her an hour or two to untangle and remove, but there was another ward hidden within the tangled mess, and she accidentally triggered it,” Kingsley explained.

“What does it do?”

“Best we can tell, it removes oxygen from the air, and turns up the heat. Jones and the other ward specialists were doing everything they could just to slow it down before everyone else arrived. Hopefully with the goblins help, they’ll be able to get it down, get them all down.”

“If it takes oxygen out of the air…” Amelia trailed off, looking at Kingsley in horror.

“It’s the most heavily warded place we’ve come across so far. We suspected Potter might be down there even before Jones started working on the wards.”

“Sunnova-”

“Hu-hah!” one of the goblins exclaimed. Amelia and Kingsley rushed forward, just as the trapdoor sprung open, revealing a set of stairs. A horrible heat engulfed all of them.

“Cooling charms and bubble-head charms!” Amelia yelled out, before casting her own and dashing down the stairs. The goblins began to set up a first-aid post as several other aurors, including Kingsley and Hestia, followed Amelia.

“Goblins don’t have bubble-head charms,” one goblin yelled down the stairs. “Bring him back up here quickly.”

* * *

The stairs led to a hallway without doors. The hallway turned further up ahead, and the flicker of light from an open flame came from that direction. The aurors hurried forward as quickly as they could. The turn opened up into a room with a single jail cell in it.

And in that cell lay Harry Potter, unmoving.

Amelia didn’t bother trying to unlock the cell door. She just ripped it off it’s rusted hinges with a cry of rage, throwing it behind her as she sped over to the boy.

“Director?” Kingsley asked.

“He’s dead,” Amelia whispered, to quietly for anyone to hear.

“That’s him, isn’t it?” Hestia asked. “Is he alright?”

Amelia didn’t answer. She picked up the small child’s body, and cradled it in her arms, turning around to face the aurors. They all stared at the body in horror. He wasn’t breathing at all, and his skin was bright red from the heat.

They parted, allowing Amelia to pass through them as she headed towards the stairs.

* * *

Horrified gasps filled the clearing where the little run-down shack had stood, as Amelia walked up the stairs, holding the body of Harry Potter in his arms.

“We were too late,” a goblin said.

“He’s gone,” an auror said.

“Like hell!” another auror yelled. Every face turned to her as she pushed forward. “Director put him on the ground. You three, cast as strong a cooling charm as possible,” she yelled at the three aurors she knew to be particularly gifted with that charm.

A goblin rushed over, just in time for the auror to grab him and sit him next to the body, on the side of Harry’s heart. “Hold your hands like this over his heart, and keep pumping like this. That will keep the blood flowing.”

“What the hell are you doing?” another auror asked.

“CPR,” the auror said. “Something the muggles invented, which you’d know if you paid any attention at all to muggles.” Amelia couldn’t recall this auror’s name, but did recall that she was a muggleborn. The auror then began to breathe into Harry’s mouth.

The aurors and goblins watched with bated breath, and then a miracle happened. Harry Potter coughed and then began breathing again, taking raspy breaths. The aurors cheered as the goblins rushed him over to the first-aid post.

“Let’s get his temperature down,” a goblin said. “It’s still much too high.” The goblins became a flurry of activity as they set about providing the Potter boy with as much healing as possible.

“Look here,” one goblin said. “In the scar.”

“What?” another asked, before letting out what the aurors assumed were curses in the goblin tongue. “We need to get that out of him, immediately.”

“If Malfoy did that, I’ll…” whatever the goblin said next was in their own language, and sounded particularly nasty.

“We’ll compare it once we get back to Gringotts,” another said, “but let’s get it out of him first. Who would ever put such a monstrosity in a child?”

“Malfoy, maybe. Might be that other one, the Riddle boy,” a goblin said.

“We’ll try matching it to him to,” another said. Finally, a green-ish black sludge was pulled from the scar, prompting a pained groan from the Potter boy, and causing most of the aurors to step back in disgust.

“What is that thing?” Amelia asked, sickened. “Why was it in his scar?”

“What are you standing around for? Get me something to contain this!” one goblin yelled at another, before answering Amelia, “And this, is something the next goblin-wizard treaty will be making illegal. I believe in your language it is called a horcrux.”

An auror hissed. Amelia thought he was from the Moon or Greengrass families. “Someone put that inside a child? Inside Harry Potter!?”

“Rest assured, the perpetrator will be dealt with,” a goblin said.

“What is it?” Kingsley asked.

“A piece of someone’s soul,” the auror who had hissed answered.

“How do we know it wasn’t Potter’s then?” Yaxley asked. The other aurors and the goblins looked at him as if he was stupid.

“How could something that nasty belong to Potter?” one asked.

“And anyway,” the auror who had hissed said, “you have to murder someone in cold blood to separate a piece of your soul and then use a ritual of some sort to force it into an object. I’ve never heard of it being used on a human, on any living being before.”

“It hasn’t been,” a goblin said. “We’ve done all we can. It’s time to get the boy to St. Mungo’s.”


	4. 03: Our Savior Found

Narcissa read through her cousin’s file, and then read through it again. It didn’t take much time, as the file itself was so tiny. Such a miscarriage of justice, and for the heir to an old family, now the head of an old family.

Narcissa sighed, and headed downstairs. Perhaps a nice cup of tea would help her figure out how to bring this up at the next Wizengamot meeting.

* * *

The portkey arrival terminal had been peaceful for days. It was normally used for splinched body parts to be portkeyed in so they could be reattached. The eyes of the current attendant had just started to droop.

“Get me a healer!” Kingsley yelled, in his deep, booming voice. The attendant snapped to attention and took in the sight of Kingsley Shacklebolt, surrounded by aurors and goblins, holding onto the bright red body of Harry Potter.

“Where’s my damn healer!?” he demanded, and the attendant rushed off to find one.

* * *

“Mistress Narcissa, ma’am?” Dobby said, peeking his head into the kitchen where Narcissa sat with her sister Andromeda.

“Dobby? What is it?”

“Aurors found the one theys be lookings for, Mistress Narcissa, ma’am.”

“Oh thank Merlin,” Andromeda said.

“And damn Lucius to the pits of hell,” Narcissa said. “Thankfully, this can’t be used against me or Draco.”

“Mistress Narcissa, ma’am?”

“Yes, Dobby?”

“May Dobby be going to see the Great Harry Potter sir?”

Narcissa stared at Dobby for a few moments, before saying, “You really do like young Mr. Potter, don’t you Dobby?”

“Yes, Mistress Naricissa ma’am.”

“Dobby, I’m going to give you one last order, and then set you free.” Dobby’s eyes grew very wide, even wider than they had been earlier in the day. “Dobby, after you are set free, you are to go directly to Harry Potter’s side and bond with him. Is that clear?”

“Oh, yes, Mistress Narcissa ma’am, very clear,” Dobby said, excitedly.

Narcissa nodded and removed the sash from her waist, “Dobby, with this piece of clothing, I release you from your bond to the Malfoy family.”

“Thank you, Mistress Narcissa ma’am,” Dobby said, grabbing her leg in a hug, before disappearing with a pop.

“ _You softie!_ ” Andromeda said. Narcissa gasped in mock outrage.

“Softie? _Softie?_ I’ll show you softie!” She threw her napkin at her sister’s head.

* * *

The healer had just managed to get Harry’s skin back to its normal, pinkish color, when Dobby arrived.

“Wha-what on earth are you doing here?”

“Mistress Narcissa ma’am bes freeing Dobby and then tellings Dobby to find the Great Harry Potter sir and bond with him, so Dobby has come to the Great Harry Potter sir.”

“You can’t just come in here and – where did you go?”

“Here!” The healer whirled around just in time to see a flash as Dobby bonded to Harry as his elf.

“Why you little-”

“What’s going on?” Hestia asked. She entered the room with her wand drawn, having heard the raised voice of the healer.

“Dobby has bonded to the Great Harry Potter sir and is now his elf!” Dobby explained excitedly. “Hello auror miss.”

“Oh, you were the elf at the manor. Hello again. I thought you were a Malfoy elf.”

“Mistress Narcissa ma’am set Dobby free.”

“Ah, okay.”

“Okay?” the healer asked.

Hestia shrugged. “You do not want to piss off an elf, trust me.”

The healer looked on helplessly as Dobby turned his attention to Harry.

* * *

_**SPECIAL EDITION** _

_**Our Savior Found!** _

_**Aurors and Goblins Take Boy-Who-Lived to St. Mungo’s!** _

 

_Earlier this evening aurors searching Malfoy Manor found our beloved savior underneath a trap door, a source within the DMLE says. Although not breathing when they found him, a muggleborn auror and a goblin successfully used a muggle technique to keep his heart beating and his lungs filled with air until he began breathing himself._

_He was taken shortly afterwards to St. Mungo’s hospital, where he is still unconscious. More when it develops._

_-Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet_

 

“Well, thank Merlin for that,” McGonagall said. Snape, who had been out of the country until a few hours ago, sneered the paper.

“Prince Potter run away from his family and get a scrape?” The rest of the staff looked at him in horrified shock. None of them were as surprised as Snape, when McGonagall slapped him right across the face.

“For your _information_ Severus, he was kidnapped, Merlin only knows when, by Lucius. Bloody. Malfoy. Malfoy used polyjuice to try and get into the lad’s vault and got caught by the goblins. Heaven help you Severus Snape if I find out you’re the one that brewed him the polyjuice.”

McGonagall abruptly stood up, grabbed the paper, and smacked Snape in the face with it, before leaving the Great Hall.

* * *

“ _A source within the DMLE,_ ” Amelia read aloud from the article. “I want to know who talked, and I want to know NOW!”

No one spoke up.

“No? Then perhaps everyone would like to share their punishment? I may not be able to suspend all of you, but I can sure as hell dock your pay.”

There were several groans, and enough glances at Dawlish that she could put two and two together.

“Dawlish, something you want to get off your chest?” she growled out. Dawlish winced.

“I was the source,” he said quietly.

“The only reason you aren’t being fired, is because Skeeter didn’t print about the horcrux. If I find that in another article, you’re done here. As it is, you’re suspended for two months, without pay. Get out of my sight!”

* * *

Harry Potter woke to much better conditions than he fell asleep – passed out – in. Large, bulbous eyes were directly in front of his face.

“G’morning Dobby,” Harry mumbled. “Where are we?”

“Good morning Great Harry Potter sir. We is in the wizard hospital. Auror sirs and goblinpeople did brings the Great Harry Potter sir in several hours ago they did.”

“Mm, okay. Does that mean your master won’t be pulling my hair anymore?”

“Dobby’s old master was arrested by goblinpeople. Dobby’s old Mistress Narcissa ma’am set him free to be the Great Harry Potter sir’s elf.”

“Awesome. Do they have food here? And a bathroom? I should probably go pee.”

“Dobby be gettings a healer to see the Great Harry Potter sir, and then Dobby will help the Great Harry Potter sir to the bathroom.” Dobby disappeared with a pop.

“Okie dokie,” Harry said, laying back down. By the time Dobby came back with a healer, he was already asleep again. The healer used a spell to vanish the urine in Harry’s body.

“I’ll have a tray of food sent up under preservation charms for when he wakes up,” the healer told Dobby. “Make sure he eats as much of it as he can.”

“Dobby will.”

* * *

A few hours later, Amelia Bones walked into the hospital room to find Harry Potter awake and devouring a tray full of food.

“I suppose Malfoy didn’t feed you as much as a growing boy required,” she said. “My name is Amelia Bones. I am the Director of the DMLE, that is, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.”

“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Harry Potter,” he took a few more bites. “And he fed me more often than the Dursleys, at least. Wait, magic’s real?”

“Of course,” Amelia said. With a smile, she transfigured one of his finished dishes into a puffskein and back.”

“Wow. Can Dobby do that?”

Just as Amelia was about to ask who Dobby was, the elf in question popped into the room, “The Great Harry Potter sir be calling his Dobby?”

“Ah, no Mr. Potter. What I did was a structured spell with a magical focus, my wand. House elves like Dobby here have their own brand of magic. I was wondering if I could ask you some questions, Harry.”

Harry looked uncertain, and glanced at Dobby. “Questions about what?”

“Your time at Malfoy Manor and wherever you were before that. Dobby may remain present, if you like, assuming he is your house elf that is.”

“Mistress Narcissa ma’am set Dobby free so he could be the Great Harry Potter sir’s elf.”

“I don’t understand what that means,” Harry said.

“It means Narcissa Malfoy, the wife of the man who kidnapped you, gave Dobby clothes. It removes any bond he had with the Malfoy family, leaving him free to bond with whomever he wishes.”

“Does that mean you don’t have to take orders from the blond man anymore, Dobby?”

“Yes sir, Great Harry Potter sir. Mean Old Master can’t order Dobby to do anything like keeping the Great Harry Potter sir locked up or holding the Great Harry Potter sir down while Mean Old Master stole his hair.”

“Maybe you could go steal his hair in return,” Harry mumbled, rubbing the part of his scalp that had hair pulled from.

“Yes sir, Great Harry Potter sir,” Dobby said, and disappeared.

“Wha? What? Where did he go?”

Dobby returned before Amelia could answer, with his arms full of long blond locks of hair. “The Great Harry Potter sir did not say how much of Mean Old Master’s hair to steal, so Dobby stole it all.”

Amelia and Harry stared at the elf in shock for a few moments before they both began laughing. Unknown to them, the goblins guarding the now very-bald Lucius Malfoy were also laughing.

“Oh my, that’s, ahahaha, oh, that’s good,” Amelia said. “Amazing, truly. Ooh. Haha. Alright, then. Harry, if I could start asking those questions?”

“Of course, ma’am.”

“You can call me Amelia if you’d like Harry. The date is Thursday, August 1st, 1991. Do you know how long Lucius Malfoy, the blond man, had you for?”

“I think almost a year,” Harry said. “I don’t remember the exact date, but I’m pretty sure it was October of 1990.”

“Do you know how he got you?”

“No. I went to sleep in my cupboard, and woke up in the cell I was in.”

“Your cupboard?”

“Yes, the cupboard under the stairs. That’s where I slept before the blond man took me.”

“I see,” Amelia said, with a frown. She’d come back to that. “What was your average day like in the cell?”

“I’d wake up, eat the food Dobby brought when he brought it, use the bucket in the corner if I had to, and then went back to sleep. Sometimes he’d, the blond man that is, he’d come in and pull my hair out. He always insulted me when he talked to me, but he didn’t do anything else, I don’t think, unless he did it while I was sleeping.”

“And what do you remember before you woke up here?”

“It got really hot, and hard to breathe. The next thing I remember was waking up here and seeing Dobby.”

“Alright, now about your cupboard – oh, what’s this?” An owl had flown in the open window, and dropped a letter on her lap. She read through it. “Damn. They’ve moved the meeting. Harry, I have to go do something, but I’ll return later, alright. I might even bring my niece along, she’s your age.”

* * *

“Oh, drat,” Narcissa said, reading the letter Amelia had just sent her.

“What is it?” Andromeda asked.

“They’ve moved the Wizengamot meeting from tomorrow afternoon to today, in just a few hours.”

“Probably because of the article,” Andromeda mused. “They’ll probably be bringing up the guardianship of the Potter boy at some point. I think I might have a way for you to bring up dear cousin Sirius’ plight.”

“Oh?”

“But you’ll have to hurry to the Ministry now, and go to the archives. If they can get you the right files before the meeting starts, you’ll be able to pull it off.”

“You always were the best at politics, my dear Ravenclaw. What’s the plan?”

* * *

“Harry?” Amelia said, popping her head into the room an hour later. “Oh, good, you’re still up.” She opened the door to the room fully and entered, followed by a young girl.

“This is my niece, Susan. She’ll be starting Hogwarts with you this year. Susan, this is Harry. He’s recovering from quite the ordeal, so please be gentle with him. I’ve got to go to the Wizengamot meeting, since they moved it forward. Dobby?”

“Yes Auror Director ma’am?” Dobby asked.

“I know you’ve been watching over Harry since he got here, but would you watch over my Susan too?”

“Yes ma’am, Auror Director, ma’am,” Dobby said, standing to attention, and giving her a salute. Both Susan and Harry giggled at the elf’s silly actions.

“Thank you, Dobby. Harry, Susan, I’ll return later, after the meeting.”

“I hope you don’t mind,” Susan said, shyly, “but I brought some of the schoolbooks we’ll be having for this year. I wanted to read through them, to get an idea of what we’ll be doing.”

“That’s okay,” Harry said, scooting over, and patting the bed beside him. “Would you mind if I read them too?”

“Of course.” Susan opened _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ , while Harry grabbed _Hogwarts, A History_ as he had no idea what Hogwarts even was, other than that he would be going there shortly with Susan.

* * *

Narcissa gave a small smile to the files she had collected from the archives. The Wizengamot was in for the shock of its life, and would, at the very least, be calling for Sirius Black to have a trial, if not free him outright out of indignation.


	5. 04: The Wizengamot: Trial

“Damn it all to hell,” Ripjaw grumbled.

“What’s wrong?” Slashgott, current head of Gringotts bank, asked. “Theory not pan out?”

“No. The soul piece definitely doesn’t belong to Malfoy.”

“Eh, cheer up, you’ll find the bastard,” Slashgott said, and then elbowed him. “DIdja here what happened to the blond pompous windbag?”

“That he’s not so blond these days?” Ripjaw grinned. “I had the pleasure of being there when the house elf took it all. Best thing I’ve watched in ages.”

“Lucky little shit.”

* * *

“Hear ye, hear ye,” the bailiff called out. “We open this first bimonthly meeting of the august Wizengamot, this 1st day of August. Chief Warlock, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, is presiding over the meeting.”

“Thank you,” Albus Dumbledore said, banging his gavel on the desk. “I now declare this meeting to be open. First order of business, is there anyone who will be taking a seat today?”

Narcissa stood, and Dumbledore gestured her forward. “My name is Narcissa Malfoy. With my husband _unavailable_ for certain, well-known, reasons, and my son not yet of age, I will be taking the Malfoy seat.”

“I see. You have the proper documents required?” Narcissa handed the papers to the bailiff, who handed it to Dumbledore. “This appears to be all in order. Is there any reason any of our members see to deny Narcissa Malfoy the Malfoy seat.”

“Her husband kidnapped Harry Potter!” one yelled out. Several others yelled out their agreement.

“That is an objection to her husband retaking his seat,” Dumbledore said. “Is there any reason for Lady Malfoy to not take the seat?”

“I am Lucius’ proxy when he is away,” another member yelled.

Narcissa turned her gaze to him and spoke before Dumbledore could, “You may have been proxy while my husband was head of the Malfoy family, but in case you hadn’t noticed, he’s not here today. Now, why is that? Oh yes, I remember, HE KIDNAPPED HARRY POTTER! Even if the goblins hadn’t detained him, the aurors certainly would have. Either way, he’s not here, and Draco’s not old enough, leaving me to be the head of the family, and I assure you, I don’t require _you_ as my proxy, _thank you_.”

“Are there any actual objections?” Dumbledore asked, handing the papers back to the bailiff to hand to Narcissa. No one else spoke. “Very well, Narcissa Malfoy, the Malfoy seat is yours. Is there anyone else who will be taking a seat today?”

There was silence. Dumbledore waited until Narcissa took her seat before speaking again, “Very well. Second order of business, is there anything we did not finish at the last meeting?”

“When are we going to get to the Potter boy?” one member asked.

“When we get to new business, of course,” Augusta Longbottom said. “New business comes after old business, or have you not been paying attention to how these meetings have been run since you took over for your father?”

Most of the Wizengamot members chuckled.

“Second call for unfinished business?” Dumbledore said, trying to get the meeting back on track. “No. Alright then, third order of business, is there anything unrelated to Harry Potter that anyone would like to bring forth? Note, I said _unrelated_ to Harry Potter, as once we get to that, I feel we will be unable to take a new subject until the next meeting.”

No one said anything, wanting to get on with it, and almost everyone was surprised when Narcissa cleared her throat and stood. “If I may have a table in the center of the room, please?”

“Of course,” Dumbledore said, conjuring an ornate table in the center of the room, easily seeable by all members of the Wizengamot.

“Thank you,” Narcissa placed her bag on the table, and started pulling files out of it, laying them in piles on the table. “Oh, don’t worry. We’re not going to be looking through all of these. Most of these are just for the show part of show and tell. Now, please bear with me. This is going to be very unpleasant, for all of us, but I do have a reason for doing this, I assure you.”

Narcissa held up the first file, “Igor Karkaroff, Death Eater, arrested, charged, tried, set free in exchange for information.”

She held up the next file, even thicker than Karkaroff’s, “Antonin Dolohov, Death Eater, arrested, charged, tried, sent to Azkaban.”

She went through all the files, each easily as thick as Dolohov’s, all for Death Eaters. “My apologies Lady Longbottom,” Narcissa said, before holding up the files of her sister Bellatrix, Bellatrix’s husband, and then Bellatrix’s brother-in-law.

“Do you know what all these people had in common, apart from being Death Eaters?” Narcissa asked. No one answered her. She wasn’t expecting them too. “Each and every single one of them was caught, arrested, charged, and tried for their supposed crimes. Even those,” she held up a file slightly thinner than Karkaroff’s file, “like my husband, Lucius Malfoy, arrested, charged, tried, set free under claims of the imperius.”

She then held up the thinnest file any of the Wizengamot’s member has ever seen. “This man, then heir, but now head of his family, was caught on the streets, not even wearing Death Eater regalia, not bearing the Dark Mark on his arm, was not charged, was not tried, but was sent to Azkaban. The _head_ of his family, one of you,” Narcissa said, gesturing to all of them, “is in Azkaban, without proof of guilt, for no other reason, than that the arresting auror thought, _thought_ , he was guilty, and decided to poison the rest of us against him, by spreading malicious rumors to that effect.”

Like Andromeda had predicted, every single member of the Wizengamot was standing, yelling at each other, and her. Dumbledore banged his gavel.

“Order! Order! Lady Malfoy, if what you say is true, and I truly believe it is, judging by the thin size of that file, a grave miscarriage of justice has been carried out against one of our own. Would you be so kind to tell us, just who does that particular file belong to?”

Narcissa took a deep breath before telling them, “The Head of the Black Family, my former family, Sirius Black!”

There was a stunned silence from everyone, before the noise erupted again.

“QUIET!” Dumbledore boomed out, banging the gavel. After everyone quieted, he turned to Narcissa. “Sirius Black is incarcerated in Azkaban prison without a trial?”

“Yes, Chief Warlock, he is.”

“Then, we have no choice but to take a recess. Amelia,” he said, before correcting himself, “Director Bones. We require the presence of Sirius Black for his trial within the hour.” There were several, very loud, objections, but Dumbledore waved them off. “And what, then, would you like us to do if you are thrown in Azkaban without a trial? Do you really wish to set such a precedent? We will recess for an hour.”

Dumbledore banged the gavel, and that was the end of any possible arguments.

* * *

“Hey Susan? What is the Wizengamot?” Harry asked. “Why did Amelia have to go to it?”

“The Wizengamot are the ones that make the laws, and preside over trials and such. Each family head has a seat, and so do any Order of Merlin winners, and there are those that are assigned lifetime seats for services performed. Each seat counts as one vote. You have three, I think.”

“Three?” Harry asked astonished. “Whatever for?”

“Well, there’s the Potter family seat, which you technically only inherit when you take over as Head of the Potter family, but you’re the last Potter, so it’s definitely yours. Then there’s the Order of Merlin, First Class, you and your parents got. And then finally, the lifetime seat for defeating You-Know-Who.”

“Oh,” Harry said. “But, what if I don’t know who?”

“Oh, uh, I don’t know. He was a really bad wizard, and everyone is still afraid to say his name. Maybe you can ask Auntie when she gets back.”

“How did I defeat him?”

“I don’t know. You don’t remember? You’re really famous for it.”

“I don’t.”

Amelia rushed into the room. “Susan, Harry get dressed and ready to go quickly.”

“Where are we going?” Susan asked.

“To see the trial of Sirius Black.” Susan gasped.

* * *

Kingsley Shacklebolt nudged Sirius Black in the side with his foot. “Black? Black, wake up?”

Sirius groaned, opening his eyes to glare blearily at Kingsley.

“Wake up,” Kingsley said, nudging him again.

“Wha’ for?”

“Your trial.”

Sirius sat up slowly, looking more alert. “Well, it’s about damn time! I’ve only been waiting, hmm, how long has it been?”

“About ten years.”

“Harry’d be starting Hogwarts this year.”

“As soon as he gets out of St. Mungo’s. He was kidnapped by Lucius Malfoy a little while ago.”

“Malfoy? Why I oughta wring the skinny bastard’s little neck.”

“Maybe you can, after the goblins are through with him anyway.”

* * *

“Hear ye, hear ye,” the bailiff called out. “We reopen this first bimonthly meeting of the august Wizengamot, this 1st day of August. Chief Warlock, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, is still presiding over the meeting.”

Dumbledore banged the gavel, “Bring forth the accused.”

Two aurors came in, with Sirius Black between them, and settled him in a chair in the middle of the room, that had replaced the table from earlier.

“That’s Sirius Black, your godfather,” Hestia told Harry. Amelia had asked her to keep watch over the two children. The three of them were in seats that had be warded separately to keep away the reporters that had arrived hoping to get the scoop on Sirius Black.

“Sirius Black,” Dumbledore began, “you stand accused of being a Death Eater, aiding the Dark Lord in his attempts to take over this Ministry, aiding the Dark Lord in the murders of James and Lily Potter, and the murder of Peter Pettigrew and a dozen muggles. How do you plead?”

“Not guilty to all of them,” Sirius croaked.

Amelia stood up, “Since it has been so long since the alleged crimes took place, I request the use of Veritaserum.”

“What’s that?” Harry whispered.

“Something to make him tell the truth,” Hestia whispered back.

“Request seconded,” Sirius said. “Give it here. I don’t want anyone mistaking my words.”

“Request granted. Will the court Potions Master bring it forth?” Dumbledore asked.

With the Veritaserum working, Amelia began to ask questions. “Are you, or have you ever been, a Death Eater?”

“No.”

“Are you, or have you ever been, a supporter of the Dark Lord?”

“No.”

“Are you, or have you ever been, a supporter of any Dark Lord?”

“No.”

“Did James and Lily Potter go into hiding under the Fidelius Charm?”

“Yes.”

“Were you their Secret-Keeper?”

“No.”

“Did you have anything to do with the deaths of James and Lily Potter?”

“Yes.”

“What did you have to do with the deaths of James and Lily Potter?”

“I’m the one that suggested their Secret-Keeper.”

“Who was their Secret-Keeper?”

“Peter Pettigrew.”

That through even Amelia off, as her next question was, “What? Why?” With such an open ended question, Sirius had more control over his answer.

“Who would have ever suspected little Peter Pettigrew. We spread the rumor that I was the Secret-Keeper as another layer of protection. When I found Lily and James dead, I went after him. He blew up the street and escaped in the chaos.”

“Wait, are you saying Peter Pettigrew is alive?”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“He cut off his own finger, and blew up the street, and escaped into the sewers below in his animagus form.”

“He has an animagus form?”

“Yes.”

“What is Peter Pettigrew’s animagus form?”

“A rat,” Sirius said, as the potion began wearing off. “That should have been our first clue not to trust the traitor.”

“With the evidence provided, I can see no need for a vote,” Dumbledore said. “Sirius Black, I declare you exonerated of all charges. Amelia, issue an arrest warrant for Peter Pettigrew. Sirius, I think you should go to St. Mungo’s.”

“Oh, I’ll definitely be going to St. Mungo’s eventually. But first, what’s being done about Malfoy kidnapping my Godson?”

“Ah, yes, of course. As before, is there anything else not related to Harry Potter to bring forward? No, then we shall move on. Fourth order of business, Harry Potter.”

Everyone had an opinion and they all spoke at once.

“Why are they being so loud?” Harry asked.

“They all wish to be heard,” Hestia said.

“Haven’t they heard of waiting their turn?”

“They all wish to be heard first,” Susan said.

“Order!” Dumbledore yelled again, banging the gavel once more. “Let us have the facts placed before us.”

“I spoke to Mr. Potter earlier this morning,” Amelia said. “I believe I have all the other facts in order as well.”

“Very well. Please, continue.”

“Early yesterday afternoon, the goblins apprehended Lucius Malfoy trying to enter the trust vault of Harry Potter, via polyjuice.

“Shortly afterward, before the goblins could notify us, the Daily Prophet broke the story.

“I, myself, attended a meeting with the goblin in charge of finding Mr. Potter nearly an hour after Malfoy’s attempt. Already the goblins were searching the outskirts of the Malfoy properties for any clues to Mr. Potter’s whereabouts.

“After the meeting, I returned to find Lady Malfoy waiting for me. Over the course of our meeting, we were able to come to an agreement that would allow us to search the Malfoy properties directly.

“After several hours, and several properties, my aurors arrived at Malfoy Manor, where they were directed by a helpful elf to a shack, hidden away by the properties woods.

“Half-an-hour after finding the shack, and attempting to untangle the wards surrounding it, an auror hit a hidden trapfall. One of the others activated their emergency signal to insure that backup came running.

“I notified the goblins, who arrived to help quickly, and we hurried to the shack, which had been torn down by the time we got there. With the additional help of the goblins, the wards came down quickly.

“The trapfall in the wards, raised the temperature, and removed oxygen from the warded area. Goblins do not have a bubble-head charm equivalent, so it was only myself and several aurors that used cooling charms and descended below.

“By the time we found Harry Potter, he was already dead.” Gasps echoed around the Wizengamot.

Even from Harry. “I was dead?”

“Only for a short while, Harry,” Hestia said.

“I speak with complete honesty when I say I was devastated. I did not know what to do. I am lucky, we are lucky that one of my aurors did.

“Annie Bainbridge is a muggleborn, and was raised with the knowledge of something she called CPR. She quickly taught a goblin to use his hands to keep Harry’s heart beating, and she breathed for him herself, until a miracle happened.

“Harry Potter began to breathe all on his own. The goblins healed him as best they could, so that we could transport him to St. Mungo’s.

“Earlier this morning, I spoke with him about his ordeal with Lucius Malfoy, and learned the following:

“Malfoy has kept him for almost an entire year. An elf would bring him meals, but he only had a bucket to use for a toilet. He made mention of more than one time, when Malfoy would pull his hair out.

“But what I consider worst of all, is how he came to be there. He went to sleep in his cupboard and woke up in that cell. What cupboard? Why did his guardians make him sleep in the cupboard in the first place?

The Wizengamot burst into noise again. “Where did he live?” “Who did he live with?” “Who placed him there?” were the many questions to be bellowed out by multiple people.

Dumbledore banged the gavel for order. “Quite obviously the first thing we must do, is clear up the issue of his guardianship.”


	6. 05: The Wizengamot: Guardianship

“The main question is, who did he live with before this?” Augusta asked.

“That may take some time to find out,” Dumbledore said.

“It would take no time at all,” Harry said loudly, standing up. “You could just ask me.”

Dumbledore, quite clearly by the look on his face, did not expect Harry to be in the room. Very few people saw it though, so entranced by the vision of their, thankfully living, savior.

“There may have been some very confusing spells placed on you, Harry my boy, that-”

“Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley Dursley. Number 4, Privet Drive, Little Whinning, Surrey.”

“Puh-Petunia!?” Sirius shrieked, before glaring at Dumbledore and gesturing wildly at him. “You had Hagrid take him from my arms and you put him with Petunia!? She hated Lily and everything to do with magic! Merlin only knows what else those bastards did to him besides making him sleep in a bloody cupboard!”

“With this new information, I must ask that you step down as Chief Warlock for the duration of the Wizengamot meeting that is about Harry,” Amelia said.

“You can’t be serious?” Dumbledore said, incredulously.

“I second the motion!” Augusta yelled. Several other members shouted their agreement, others their disagreement.

“The motion is seconded, and so it must go to vote,” Dumbledore said in a disappointed tone. The vote was held. Dumbledore smiled triumphantly, “53-51, not in favor. Motion failed.”

“What about my votes?” Harry said.

“Yours my boy?” Dumbledore said, jovially.

“Susan said I should have three, one for the Potter family, one for the Order of Merlin, and one for a lifetime seat.”

“Yes, of course my boy, but you are too young to use them, and I currently hold your proxy.”

“You? After you placed me with the Dursleys in the first place, taking me from my godfather to do so. I don’t want you as my proxy, and I can’t imagine my parents would either.”

“You may, of course, change your proxy at any time, if you feel they are voting against your interests,” Augusta informed him.

“Chief Warlock,” Harry said with formality, “Did you use my votes to vote in favor of the motion?”

“No, of course not. Why would I?”

“Because that would have been in my best interests. Since you are clearly voting against my interests, I must insist my proxy be someone else.”

“And who would that be?” Augusta asked.

“Amelia Bones, if that’s possible, ma’am.”

“It is.”

“And it is a moot point,” Dumbledore said. “The motion failed, and cannot be carried again until the next meeting. It-” Dumbledore cut himself off as Harry whispered something into Amelia’s ear that made her smile.

“I motion that Chief Warlock Dumbledore be suspended from the Wizengamot, pending an investigation into the placement of Harry Potter with unfit caregivers,” Amelia said.

“Motion seconded,” Augusta said again.

“The motion is seconded, and so it must go to vote,” Dumbledore said with a frown. Obviously, several of the members had seen the writing on the wall. “The vote is 69-35, in favor. Motion passed.” He reluctantly gave up the gavel to Augusta Longbottom.

“Obviously, we shall need to appoint a new, if temporary, Chief Warlock,” Augusta said. “I suggest we recess, to give us time to gather our thoughts on who we wish to nominate.”

* * *

“Harry, that was awesome!” Susan said, hugging him.

“That was terrifying,” Harry said. “I hope I never have to do something like that again.”

“Harry, this is your godfather, Sirius Black,” Amelia said.

“Hello, Mr. Black. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s very nice to see you again, Harry. And please, call me Sirius. Mr. Black reminds me of Professor McGonagall when I was in trouble.”

“Were you in trouble a lot?” Susan asked.

“Oh, all the time, all four of us were. They called us the Marauders, and we decided we liked it, so the name kind of stuck.”

* * *

Delores Umbridge watched from afar as Potter and Black spoke, and clearly enjoyed each other’s company. She, among many others, had noticed that his words were from the heart, rather than coached to him. It was obvious, even now, that the boy would grow into a political powerhouse.

Whoever landed the guardianship was going to be at the top of the political food chain.

And in Delores’ mind, only one person belonged on top – current Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. With the boy so comfortable with Black and Bones, it was likely one of them that would get guardianship, rather than herself or one of Fudge’s lackeys.

She needed the boy in the right hands, to groom him, and raise him properly as a pureblood family head, and, most importantly, an enthusiastic supporter of Cornelius Fudge. Neither Black nor Bones were capable of that.

It meant she would have to be sneaky.

* * *

“Hear ye, hear ye,” the bailiff called out. “We reopen this first bimonthly meeting of the august Wizengamot, this 1st day of August. With no Chief Warlock, our longest standing member, Augusta Marie Longbottom, is presiding over the meeting.”

Augusta banged the gavel. “With no Chief Warlock, I open the floor to nominations. Boxes have been placed in front of you. Please write down your nomination, and slip it into the box. Please remember that you cannot nominate yourself.”

Several minutes later, she spoke again, “Nominations have ended. According to my parchment, seventeen nominees were named, but only six received more than one vote. Myself, Augusta Longbottom, along with Algernon Croaker, Griselda Marchbanks, Amelia Bones, Thelonious Nott, and Nathaniel Parkinson have been nominated.

“The same endeavor as before – please, write down who you vote for, and place it in the box. We will drop the name with the least amount of votes each round. You may vote for yourself, if applicable.”

A few minutes later the first vote was in. “The tallies are as follows: Bones 29, Marchbanks 18, Croaker 16, Nott 16, Longbottom 15, Parkinson 10. Nathaniel Parkinson has been dropped from the voting. Please place your votes for the next round.”

“The tallies are as follows: Bones 28, Nott 24, Longbottom 18, Marchbanks 18, Croaker 16. Algernon Croaker has been dropped from the voting. Please place your votes for the next round.”

“The tallies are as follows: Bones 30, Longbottom 27, Nott 27, Marchbanks 20. Griselda Marchbanks has been dropped from the voting. Please place your votes for the next round.”

“The tallies are as follows: Longbottom 36, Nott 36, Bones 32. Amelia Bones has been dropped from the voting. Please place your votes for the final round.”

“The final tally is 65-39, in favor of myself, Augusta Longbottom, as Chief Warlock. Now, we shall return to the fourth order of business, one Harry Potter. I believe Dumbledore was right when said we should first settle his guardianship. Mr. Potter, would you please step forward.”

Harry stepped forward nervously. Susan came up with him, holding his hand. Augusta smiled at them.

“You are at the age where you are about to begin at Hogwarts, and undertake the journey from child to adult. With that in mind, I would like to assure you that your wishes will most certainly be taken into account. I wish to begin with your previous _guardians_ ,” Augusta said the last word like it left a bad taste in her mouth. “Tell me of your average day at the Dursleys.”

Harry nodded, swallowed nervously, and then began to speak, “I usually woke up to my Aunt Petunia banging on my cupboard door, yelling at me to get up and cook breakfast.”

“What do you mean by cupboard door?”

“My cupboard is the cupboard under the stairs. It’s where I slept before Mr. Malfoy took me away.”

“And why is it your aunt had you cooking? Could she not do it herself?”

“Oh, she could, ma’am, but it was my chore, along with the dishes, the laundry, the garden, the cleaning, and whatever else the Dursleys decided on that day.”

“I see. Please continue your account after your aunt wakes you up to cook.” Augusta could see she wasn’t the only one scribbling notes furiously as Harry talked.

“After cooking breakfast, I was to set the table. Once my relatives finished, I was allowed a piece of toast. I then set about my chores for the day, including cooking dinner. Aunt Petunia usually made lunch for her, Uncle Vernon, and Dudley.”

“What about you?”

“I wasn’t allowed to eat lunch, except when the school provided them. And then I usually went without breakfast. Also if I didn’t finish all my chores on time, I didn’t get dinner. It was much harder on school days when I had to finish my homework, and Dudley’s homework, on top of my chores.”

“Why didn’t Dudley do his own homework?”

“He didn’t want to, so Aunt Petunia made me do it. I always made sure to do better on his than mine. If I came home with better grades than Dudley, I wouldn’t get to eat.”

“Well, I’ve heard just about enough to be entirely sure I wouldn’t let you go back there even if it was your greatest desire Mr. Potter.”

Judging by the scrunching of Harry’s nose, that wouldn’t be a problem.

“Do we know of any instructions James and Lily might have left for Harry’s custody?”

“They had a will with custody instructions in it,” Sirius said. “Filed it with Gringotts Law Offices instead of the Ministry Records Department, I think.”

“Cresswell, see if the goblins have a copy of the will available. Shaklebolt, check the Ministry archive just in case. We’ll recess for an hour before continuing.”

* * *

“Sirius, a healer is here to see you, since you haven’t gone to St. Mungo’s yet,” Amelia said.

“Aw, but I want to spend time with Harry.”

“You’ll have plenty of time to spend with me when your better, when we’re both better. Er, d’you think the healer could look at me too? I feel a little sore.”

“Of course I can, Mr. Potter. Just give me a moment to make sure there’s nothing life threatening for either of you,” the healer said, waving his wand about.

* * *

It was a much better feeling Harry and Sirius that returned to the Wizengamot chambers.

“Hear ye, hear ye,” the bailiff called out. “We reopen this first bimonthly meeting of the august Wizengamot, this 1st day of August. Chief Warlock, Augusta Marie Longbottom, is still presiding over the meeting.”

“Did we manage to find a copy of the will?”

“Not in the archive,” Kingsley said, which shocked everyone who knew about the archive. It had always had whatever anyone was looking for before today.

“The goblins did have a will. They were willing to provide me with a copy, though they were very insistent on the original staying with them for some reason.”

“Please read it aloud to us, but only the relevant sections about custody.”

“We entrust the care and wellbeing of our son to his godfather, Sirius Black. If Sirius Black is not available, he should go to Frank and Alice Longbottom, Amelia Bones, Filius Flitwick, Minerva McGonagall, or Xenophilius and Pandora Lovegood in that order,” Dirk read. “There is another part here that is also relevant: We leave Lily’s sister Petunia, with nothing. Despite many attempts by Lily to reconnect, Petunia has spurned each attempt, becoming nastier and nastier. It is for this reason we also strictly forbid our son from being placed with her and her family.”

“Well, I would say that settles the issue of guardianship quite well, don’t you?” Augusta said. “Sirius Black will retain full custody of his godson, however, he must first go to St. Mungo’s and be checked over thoroughly by five separate healers. When all five healers say he is well enough to care for himself and a child, he will hold custody. Until such a time occurs, Amelia Bones will hold custody.  If that's alright with you, Harry?"

Harry nodded.

“With that, I must call this first meeting of August to a close. With Malfoy still in goblin custody, we can afford to wait a little while before dealing with him, and I believe we’ve all learned more than enough today. It is time to let our minds rest.”

Augusta banged the gavel.

“Alright, back to St. Mungo’s,” Hestia said, as the room cleared.

“I’ll have some of my aurors clear a path to one of the employee floos,” Amelia said. “That way we don’t have to deal with a huge crowd.” What she didn’t say, was that most of that crowd would probably make for Harry upon seeing him.

After getting the all clear from the aurors, Amelia led them out of the Wizengamot Chambers.

* * *

Delores saw her chance as the two children lagged behind in the emptied hallway. She drew her wand, stunned the girl, grabbed Potter, and activated her portkey before the adults even realized she was there.

* * *

“So it’s definitely Riddle’s then?” Slashgott asked.

“Yes. We managed to recover another one from the objects the aurors had gathered at Malfoy Manor, and another, well…” Ripjaw trailed off, wincing.

“Another where?”

“In the LeStrange heirloom vault.”

“Here in Gringotts!” Slashgott yelled, before letting loose several curses. “I’ll rip the bastard’s flesh from his bones.”

“Potter already did that,” Ripjaw said. “Technically, anyway.”

“Find the rest of these soul pieces and destroy them all!”

Another goblin entered the room, “The Potter boy has been kidnapped again!”

“WHAT!?” Ripjaw and Slashgott both yelled.


	7. 06: Kidnapped Again (And Again)

“Who are you!?” Harry said. “What did you do to Susan!?”

“Shut up, you little brat. Don’t ask questions. I’ll teach you your place later,” Umbridge said. She threw him in a bedroom. It was even bigger than Dudley’s bedroom, but it didn’t matter, since he didn’t want to be here.

“I have to go back to the Ministry before they suspect me,” Delores told him. “Don’t try leaving this room, or you’ll be punished.”

Umbridge left the room, muttering about making him loyal to fudge. Why she wanted him loyal to a sweet he didn’t know. The last thing he heard was her yelling, “Dawlish! Don’t let the brat leave!”

“I wish Dobby was here,” Harry said, miserably. Perhaps, he could at least tell him if Susan was alright.

“Dobby has found his Great Harry Potter sir!” Dobby said, hugging him. “Dobby take you to Miss Auror Director ma’am now.”

* * *

Dobby popped him right back into the Wizengamot chambers. “The Great Harry Potter sir called for his Dobby and Dobby wents to get him. I founds him locked in a room!”

“Harry!” Amelia exclaimed, relieved.

Harry accepted her hug, but spotted the surprised face of Delores Umbridge and immediately pointed to her, “It was her! She hit Susan with a red light and then grabbed me and took me somewhere else! Is Susan okay?”

“Yes, she’s fine, Harry, I promise. Aurors! Arrest Delores Umbridge. Augusta, if you would secure us some Veritaserum. I want to know why she kidnapped Harry.”

“She said she wanted me loyal to some fudge? Why would she want me loyal to a sweet?”

Amelia blinked. Everyone turned from Umbridge to Minister Fudge. Amelia brought Harry forward to him, and said, “Harry, this is Minister Cornelius Fudge. He is, or was, friends with Ms. Umbridge, the woman that took you.”

“And Malfoy, the one that took him in the first place,” another Wizengamot member nearby muttered.

“Minister, I think you need new friends,” Harry said.

“I think I do to, Mr. Potter,” Fudge said.

“Can we be friends?” Harry asked. “I don’t have many, just Susan and Dobby, and maybe Amelia and Sirius.”

“I would be delighted to be your friend, Mr. Potter,” Fudge said. Fudge was, at heart, a political animal. Being able to claim friendship with the Boy-Who-Lived would certainly offset some, if not all, of the negative backlash from Delores’ attempt to kidnap Harry Potter on his behalf.

The court Potions Master returned with another vial of Veritaserum. Umbridge screamed out, “You can’t do this to me! I am the Senior Undersecretary! Cornelius! Cornelius, tell them they can’t. I did this for you!”

“I did not ask you to kidnap a child for me. I would never ask you to kidnap a child for me. What in Merlin’s name were you thinking, Delores? Dose her, and quickly. Let’s get this over with,” Fudge said.

Umbridge was finally dosed with Veritaserum, despite her struggling attempts to avoid it, and Amelia began asking questions.

“Did you use a stunner on my niece, Susan Bones, earlier today?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you stun Susan?”

“To get her away from Potter.”

“Did you kidnap Harry Potter earlier today?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you kidnap Harry?”

“He already has the public eating out of his hand. Whoever got guardianship was going to have a political powerhouse on their side. I knew I’d never get custody, so I needed to kidnap him. Only my Cornelius should have the sort of political power.”

“Not your Cornelius,” Fudge muttered at the same time Harry exclaimed, “But I don’t want to politic! I just want to hang out with my friends!”

Chuckles reverberated around the room. Even Amelia took a few seconds to compose herself, before continuing her questions.

“Did you have anyone help you kidnap Harry?”

“No.”

“What about the man at the house?” Harry asked.

“Dawlish was just there to keep you from leaving,” Umbridge answered. “He couldn’t even do that right.”

“Do you mean John Dawlish, the auror?” Amelia asked.

“Yes.”

“Shack, go arrest the little shit. I already had him on suspension, but he’s definitely fired after this. Was there anyone else involved in the plot to kidnap Harry Potter?”

“Snape supplied the polyjuice.”

Amelia’s brows furrowed in confusion, a feeling that was shared by many in the room, until Amelia gasped. “You’re talking about the Malfoy kidnapping. You knew Malfoy had Harry Potter captive and didn’t tell anyone!?”

“I didn’t need to. Lucius was already loyal to Cornelius.”

“You, you, that’s, ugh! Shack, pick up Snape while you’re at it!” Kingsley nodded and left to gather some aurors to arrest the two men.

“I’ve heard quite enough,” Augusta said. “It is beyond any doubt that she is guilty. I can only see two possible punishments for the kidnapping of a child, an heir to an old family.”

“Two old families! He’s my heir too!” Sirius said.

Augusta nodded, “We shall put it to a vote – Life in Azkaban or the Dementor’s Kiss? Place your votes now, please.” Everyone did so quickly.

Looking Umbridge directly in the eye, Augusta read out the results, “Delores Umbridge, you have been sentenced to Life in Azkaban by a vote of 98-6. Take her away.”

“No! No! You can’t do this to me! Cornelius! Don’t let them take me! Cornelius! CORNELIUS!”

“Jones, clear another path to the floos,” Amelia said. “This time, Harry, I’ll be carrying you the entire way. It’s back to St. Mungo’s for you.”

“Is Susan there?”

“Susan wasn’t hurt, just knocked out Harry. She’s back at home, though I’ll of course leave to go get her as soon as you’re under guard at St. Mungo’s.”

* * *

John Dawlish decided to bring the boy some food, only to find he was missing. The boy had escaped. Even if hadn’t physically seen John’s face, he had certainly heard Umbridge call out to him, and Umbridge would happily pin the kidnapping on John himself if given the chance to save herself.

In a blind panic, Dawlish apparated to his apartment to pack his things for a quick escape. In his panic, he splinched himself horribly. Scotland Yard would remain forever confused about the body pieces of a John Doe that had been found all over London, in some of the strangest places they had seen.

The only part they would never find would be the head, which remained in Delores Umbridge’s home, until a house-elf came to clean the home, and vanished it.

* * *

The Wireless had picked up and broadcast every word in the Wizengamot chambers, once the emergency meeting signal went out. By the time the aurors arrived at Hogwarts to arrest Snape, McGonagall had already had her hands around his throat and was shaking him all around the Great Hall.

“Aren’t we supposed to arrest him?” an auror asked.

“You wanna go tell Minerva McGonagall to stop, you be my guest,” Kingsley said. “Be careful not to let her hands get around your neck for trying to get her away from Snape.”

“I’ve never seen her so enraged before,” another auror commented.

“You’ve never seen one of her cubs in danger before. Both of Potter’s parents were in her house, and she was good friends with them once they graduated. James would have become her apprentice if not for the war. Lily would have been Flitwick’s,” Kingsley nodded in the direction of the short professor.

Filius Flitwick was dressed in goblin armor and had an axe, a very sharp looking axe. He was keeping a close eye on McGonagall and Snape.

“Looks like he’s going next,” Kingsley said. “We might as well sit and wait to see if there’s enough left of Snape to arrest afterwards.”

Kingsley was willing to bet there wouldn’t be.

* * *

As soon as the healer had looked Harry over, Albus Dumbledore strode into the room.

“Dumbledore!? What the hell are you doing here?” Sirius demanded.

“I am here to take Harry to his relatives, of course. It’s for the best.”

“Like hell it is,” Sirius said.

“What makes you think we’ll ever let him go back there?” Amelia asked. “You heard him in the Wizengamot meeting. They locked him in a cupboard!”

“I’ll have a talk with them about that,” Dumbledore said. “Their home has the best wards for Harry’s safety.”

“Some safety it provided, considering how Malfoy managed to kidnap him!” Susan said. “I won’t let you take him!” Susan kicked Dumbledore in the shin. Amelia and Sirius had their wands out immediately afterwards.

“I think it’s time you left, Albus,” Amelia said.

“The Dursleys are the safest place for the boy,” Dumbledore said, backing out of the room.

“No, they’re really not,” Sirius said.

“You won’t make me go back there right?” Harry asked.

“Of course not, Harry,” Amelia said. “If you ever do get left there, I’ll come for you.”

“Me too,” Sirius said.

“Me three,” Susan said.

“Dobby four!” Dobby exclaimed, reappearing and hugging Harry. He had been fully prepared to launch Dumbledore out a window if necessary.

“Tha-thanks,” Harry said, sniffling a little. Sirius pulled him into a hug.

“You’re welcome prongslet,” he said, kissing the top of Harry’s head.

* * *

Albus sighed, turned invisible, went back into the room, and cast a strong sleeping spell on everyone in the room, and a notice-me-not so no one would notice them sleeping where they fell. He picked up Harry and walked out of the hospital, before apparating away.

He was Albus Dumbledore. He knew best. Everyone would see that soon.

He appeared right outside Number 4, Privet Drive and knocked. No one answered. He shrugged and apparated a few feet forward into the house. He placed the sleeping Harry on a couch, and sat down to wait for the Dursleys so he could have a talk with them.

* * *

A few hours later, the Dursleys had yet to show up. Albus got up from the chair, and found some stationary and a pen. He penned out a short note and left it on Harry’s chest. He could always come back later to make sure they were following his instructions.

He looked at the pen he had used. It was a very nice pen. He pocketed it, and then left the house. He didn’t bother to check the wards he already had in place – if he had, he might have been able to prevent what happened to him later on – he merely added an anti-house elf ward.

That elf of Harry’s was very devoted, and would obviously try to take Harry out of the house if he found the boy. One day they, and Amelia, Sirius, and little Susan, would be thankful he hadn’t listened to their silly little protests, he was sure.

Satisfied with his work, Albus Dumbledore apparated away, just seconds before the Dursley’s car turned onto Privet Drive. The Dursleys would be in for a shock.

* * *

Amelia awoke with a groan and a headache. Still fuzzy-minded, she could hear Dobby panicking, “Dobby can’t finds the Great Harry Potter sir!”

“Goblins,” she muttered, trying to get up.

“The goblinpeople could help!” Dobby yelled, before disappearing. Hopefully, Amelia thought, she would be far more clear-headed by the time they got here.

* * *

“We found one in a Black property. The elf there was most insistent that he watch us destroy the soul piece. We think another might be at Hogwarts,” Ripjaw said

“Dumbledore would never let us search there,” Slashgott said.

“We’re in contact with the Deputy Headmistress, actually. When Dumbledore gets called out to the next Wizengamot or Confederation meeting, she’ll contact us to do as quick a search as possible.”

“Good, good.”

“Uh, sirs?” a young goblin interrupted them.

“What is it?”

“The Potter boy, well, he’s been kidnapped, er, again.”

“ _Again_?” Ripjaw exclaimed.

“Someone put a thrice-damned tracker on that boy already!” Slashgott said.

* * *

The goblins arrived at St. Mungo’s to find only Amelia and a groggy Sirius awake.

“She’ll be fine, she’s just still asleep is all,” a healer said, having looked over Susan. “It must have been a strong sleeping spell.

“What happened?” Ripjaw asked.

“I’m not sure. One minute we’re talking with Harry. The next we’re waking up and he’s gone,” Amelia said. “The healers say it was some sort of sleeping spell cast on us. Dobby tried to find him, but somethings blocking him, so I sent him to you.”

“Was there anyone else here?”

“No,” Sirius said. “Dumbledore stopped by earlier but he left.”

“At wandpoint,” Amelia pointed out.

“He was stupid enough to place Harry with Lily’s sister once,” Sirius said, “and he tried to convince us that he should go back.”

“Then that will be the first place we look,” Slashgott said. “And once we find the boy, we’re sticking as many tracking and locator charms on him as possible. Kidnapped twice in one day.” He shook his head.

* * *

The Dursleys were a very normal family, thank you very much. Their worst fear would be that someone would see them as odd or unusual. It was for that reason, that when an aristocratic looking man with lots of money came to see them, they let him take their freakish nephew away, happily signing the guardianship papers he placed in front of them. He was probably be treated like a prince, considering the expensiveness of the clothes the man had worn.

They were understandably shocked when the boy reappeared one day, sleeping on their couch, with a note laying on his chest. Petunia gasped as she read through it.

“It’s from Dumbledore. He’s left the boy here _again_!” She shoved the letter at Vernon, and moved over to Dudley to comfort him.

“I don’t want him here!” Dudley said, between giant crocodile tears. “He ruins everything! Make him leave!”

“Oh, Diddydums, don’t worry. Mummy and Daddy will take care of this.” Vernon read the note.

 

_Petunia,_

 

_Do take better care of him this time, won’t you?_

 

_Sincerely,_

 

_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

_Headmaster, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Chief Warlock, Wizengamot_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards_

 

“He spent more time on his bloody name and titles than he did on the note,” Vernon said. “I won’t have it in my house Petunia.”

“Then wake him up and throw him out,” Petunia hissed at him, before turning back to Dudley to comfort him some more.

“Boy, boy, get up you lazy lay about, get up,” Vernon demanded, poking the Harry roughly. Harry, still under the effects of Dumbledore’s spell, remained asleep. “Faking it are you? Petunia, take Dudley upstairs. I’ll take care of this little ruffian.”

The second Petunia and Dudley were out of sight, Vernon slapped the boy in the face. “Wake up boy. Wake up and get out of my house.” Harry still didn’t wake. Vernon got angrier and angrier as nothing he did woke the boy.

The goblins, under a glamor to hide their true race from the muggles of Privet Drive, entered the house to find him beating Harry Potter severely. Vernon found out how it felt to have a shield smash his face in. He was lucky the goblins in question decided to leave with Harry rather than stay around and give him his comeuppance.

Mrs. Number 2 and Mr. Number 6 saw the relatively short men carry out a badly beaten child out of Number 4.

“Should have stayed to give that Dursley man a beating of his own,” one of them grumbled.

“Let’s just get our future Lord Potter back to his family. They’re still waiting at the hospital.”

Mrs. Number 2 and Mr. Number 6 shared a look, not noticing the men disappearing into thin air with the boy. The entire neighborhood would hear of this incident by the next evening.

* * *

“The spell kept him sleeping through the pain of the beating,” the healer said. “That’s about the only good news I have. I’ve added my own sleeping spell to keep him out for as long as possible. The damage is extensive. We’ll be able to fix everything, but it will take time. A lot of time.”

“How much time?” Sirius asked.

“He won’t be making it to Hogwarts this year. I suggest getting him tutors. Depending on how well he heals, he might be able to leave the hospital around Christmas, but certainly not before that, and he’d still have to stay in bed most of the time.”

“I’ll stay with him,” Susan said.

“Hmm?” Amelia stared down at Susan in shock.

“We’ll both get tutors for this year. We can go to Hogwarts together next year.”

“You don’t have to do that, Susan.”

“I know Auntie, but I want too. I don’t want Harry to be left alone.”

“I don’t want him left alone either. Stay here with Sirius and Harry. I have an old man to see.”

* * *

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore looked around his office in contentment, unaware that it would be the last time he ever saw any part of Hogwarts at all. He sat down, happy that everything was back on track, and glanced as his device connected to the wards on Privet Drive.

Then he did a double take, staring at it in horror. The device wasn’t spinning like it should be. In fact, it was still. He pulled his wand and waved it, murmuring words in another language. It was no use; there would be no saving the device, or the wards it was supposed to be monitoring.

He tapped it with his wand. The date and time that came up was before Harry Potter had even been rescued. It didn’t occur to him that the only one prevented from finding Harry was now Dobby the house elf.

Aurors burst into his office, and disarmed him upon seeing his wand already out. Amelia Bones was at the front, eyes blazing, and mouth snarling, “Albus bloody Dumbledore, you are under arrest for kidnapping, conspiracy to commit child abuse, child abandonment and neglect, and assault upon myself, and others. You will come quietly.”

Albus opened his mouth to speak, but had several stunners hit him before he could. He would wake up in a Ministry Holding Cell, just in time to be taken out for his trial.


	8. Epilogue: Aftereffects

Albus Dumbledore was sentenced to Azkaban for life, and was placed in the same cellblock as Delores Umbridge. He outlasted her by three years, but the closeness of the dementors finally took their effect. His body was returned to his brother, and his passing was reported to the Daily Profit, who reported it on the last page of their legal notices, in a tiny little box. No one took notice of it.

The Dursleys were never convicted of child abuse, since their supposed victim had disappeared, but the residents of Privet Drive knew what they had done. The Dursleys were no longer welcome at Privet Drive, or anywhere else, since the people of Privet Drive tracked them down every few months and told their newest neighbors about the evil Dursleys who had gotten away with beating a child, and a future Lord at that, black and blue.

Harry and Susan managed to catch up on their first year, and joined their peers for their second year at Hogwarts. Shortly after graduating Hogwarts, they married. Susan became an auror, like her aunt, and Harry became a professional quidditch player for several years, before retiring to become an at-home dad to their kids. They had four, three boys, James, Edgar, and Sirius, and a little girl, Lily.

There were several more kidnap attempts on Harry, Susan, and eventually their children, but the goblins had cast so many tracking and location charms on them all that the kidnappers where all caught relatively quickly.

Amelia and Sirius also married, during the Christmas break of Harry and Susan’s fourth year. Many students missed the Yule Ball to attend. Amelia and Sirius would go on to have two children, a boy, Regulus, and a girl, Sarah. Regulus was installed as the Black heir, which was fine with Harry.

Peter Pettigrew eventually left in search of his master, and was eaten by a hungry bird while in rat form. Voldemort’s horcruxes were hunted by the goblins, after they found one in Harry’s scar. When all of them were destroyed, his spirit began to fade away. The horrendous screeching he gave off as he faded kept people out of the forests of Albania for decades.

Lucius Malfoy was never seen or heard from again. While charges were brought against him by the Wizengamot, the goblins never let him out to face them. Draco Malfoy, upon taking the reins of the Malfoy family, threw his mother out, for what he saw as a betrayal of his father, and then declared a blood feud with the Potter family, the Bones family and Gringotts bank.

The feud lasted all of three hours before he stormed up the front steps of the bank, and demanded the release of his father, claiming him to be detained illegally by the goblins. When the goblins flanking the door began laughing at him, he drew his wand and began the incantation of the killing curse. The second syllable hadn’t completely left his mouth before his head was separated from his shoulders.

Narcissa was welcomed back into the Black family, despite not being fully disowned by her son. Being the last remaining Malfoy, she passed the family inheritance and name to Harry, who passed it down to his youngest son, Sirius. James inherited the Potter family inheritance and title, save a well-sized chunk that was passed to Lily, and Edgar inherited the Bones family inheritance and title.

Neville Longbottom would marry Hermione Granger. Two of their children, Franklin and Emily, would marry Lily and Sirius Potter. Another of their daughters would marry Regulus. Sarah married one of the many Weasley boys, while James would play the field for a while, before settling down with a Greengrass.

Together, they would change the Wizarding world for the better, rescinding several anti-muggleborn and anti-creature laws, and ensuring that equality between everyone was everywhere. This was helped by the fact that it had been a muggleborn and a goblin that had originally saved their saviors life. Lily, herself, would eventually become Minister.

Three more dark lords rose, and then quickly fell to the heavily armored and trained aurors. All was well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The prologue of Healing should be up shortly, if not, it will be tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone has a fanfiction.net account, please go to [my ff.net profile](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/2749197/) and please post in the reviews of the stories there (and maybe on the forums which have a link in the ff.net profile) that the stories are being completed here. Thank you, if you take the time to do this.


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